![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
GLBTYA Book Reviews 3
Oct. 16th, 2008 10:14 amKissing Kate by Lauren Myracle (2003) *
One of those "being gay is an endless trial" long-hard-slog books with no discernible point. The narrator, Lissa, is depressed because her best friend, Kate, is ignoring her ever since they kissed at a party. We don't see the kiss, or Lissa and Kate's original relationship, except in brief flashbacks here and there, so it's hard to like Kate, or sympathize with Lissa in missing the great friendship she says they had. åWe never saw it in action. We also never see Lissa being anything but depressed, mean and hateful (especially to Ariel, a new-age girl she eventually befriends (but they don't, thankfully, get together). There's a plot thread about lucid dreaming that doesn't make a lot of sense. At some point the book ends. It's not clear why.
Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle (2005) ****
A coming-out comedy that made me laugh out loud on several occasions. The story focuses on that interesting period when the character basically knows he's gay, but refuses to accept it. He studiously sets about straightening himself out, taping pictures of female underwear models to his notebooks and sitting with the manly hockey kids at lunch. Amazon criticisms of this book are that it's too silly, farcical, but I didn't find that; most of the humor does come from the narrator's perfectly-worded, fastidious reactions to the things that happen to him, rather than the situations themselves. The light tone is delightful to read, and totally appropriate for what is (most people who go through this can admit after the fact) a somewhat ridiculous period in one's life.
Hero by Perry Moore (2007) **
The genre of fiction which features GLBT main characters and romance subplots but which is not, primarily, about GLBT issues (or even romance) is underdeveloped outside of slashfic, and I'm excited to see a more-or-less mainstream book go there. ( more... ) I appreciate the kind of book that Hero represents, but it's not quite a success.
I think I'm finally teen-booked out for awhile, guys.
One of those "being gay is an endless trial" long-hard-slog books with no discernible point. The narrator, Lissa, is depressed because her best friend, Kate, is ignoring her ever since they kissed at a party. We don't see the kiss, or Lissa and Kate's original relationship, except in brief flashbacks here and there, so it's hard to like Kate, or sympathize with Lissa in missing the great friendship she says they had. åWe never saw it in action. We also never see Lissa being anything but depressed, mean and hateful (especially to Ariel, a new-age girl she eventually befriends (but they don't, thankfully, get together). There's a plot thread about lucid dreaming that doesn't make a lot of sense. At some point the book ends. It's not clear why.
Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle (2005) ****
A coming-out comedy that made me laugh out loud on several occasions. The story focuses on that interesting period when the character basically knows he's gay, but refuses to accept it. He studiously sets about straightening himself out, taping pictures of female underwear models to his notebooks and sitting with the manly hockey kids at lunch. Amazon criticisms of this book are that it's too silly, farcical, but I didn't find that; most of the humor does come from the narrator's perfectly-worded, fastidious reactions to the things that happen to him, rather than the situations themselves. The light tone is delightful to read, and totally appropriate for what is (most people who go through this can admit after the fact) a somewhat ridiculous period in one's life.
Hero by Perry Moore (2007) **
The genre of fiction which features GLBT main characters and romance subplots but which is not, primarily, about GLBT issues (or even romance) is underdeveloped outside of slashfic, and I'm excited to see a more-or-less mainstream book go there. ( more... ) I appreciate the kind of book that Hero represents, but it's not quite a success.
I think I'm finally teen-booked out for awhile, guys.